Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. And the rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?” Numbers 11:1–4.
It seems that some people are just born complainers, and others pick up the habit at an early age. The Bible speaks a great deal about the murmuring and complaining of the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. This complaining before the Lord often brought judgment upon them (Exodus 15:24; 16:2–3; 17:3; Numbers 14:2, 27–29; 16:41; Deuteronomy 1:26–27). In this instance in Numbers 11, their complaining and their murmuring resulted in the fire of the Lord falling; and it did not hit the center of the camp, but the outskirts. The outer fringe of the whole camp was the place where judgment fell, and in this case that judgment was fire.
In the center of the camp was the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. This was the presence of God among the children of Israel to protect them, to lead them, and to bring them into the land which He had promised to their fathers.
Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. At the command of the Lord the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. Numbers 9:15–18.
The fire that fell upon the outskirts of the camp is not to be compared with the holy pillar of fire that dwelt in the center of the camp, for that fire was the fire of judgment which came upon murmurers and complainers.
Numbers 11:1 tells us: Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
We still do not have an accurate evaluation of sins. The sins of unbelief seem to take a top priority in God’s evaluation of sin. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelation 21:7–8, KJV. All sin is sin, and must be judged, must be atoned for. There is a grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that delivers us from all sin, but we should especially consider the terribleness to God of the sin of unbelief. That is what murmuring and complaining really is.
In the New American Standard Bible, the first group of murmurers in Numbers 11:4 is called the rabble. But in the King James Version, the verse reads, “mixed multitude,” as though these were people who were mixed with the Israelites. Perhaps a few were Egyptians, maybe a few had both Egyptian and Israelite parentage; the text does not state exactly what they were. They were just called the rabble, or the mixed multitude, and they were the ones to complain. They were apparently not people who had a real experience or a covenant relationship with the Lord; they were just coming along on the journey, and their spirit was not always good. We do not yet realize how much contamination can come to all of us from a few with a bad spirit. When Satan would make people bitter or rebellious, he first makes them independent. They then become like that mixed multitude—they are neither in nor out, and they have determined that no one will get them to make a commitment of their life to God. On the other hand, they like to hang around because they know that God is doing something. It is within this class of people who are neither fish nor fowl that Satan makes people first independent and then bitter and rebellious.
A bad spirit or a bitter spirit can be conveyed very easily. Have you noticed how adults can convey it to their children until the children have that same spirit? I once watched a prophet of God deal with a case of this kind, and there have been many times, both before and since, in which I have found myself doing the same thing as he did. In this particular case, a mother brought her daughter up to him and said, “Pray for my daughter. She is so rebellious and so stubborn.” When the man of God laid his hands on the mother, she said, “No, you do not understand. I want my daughter prayed for.” He said, “I am praying for your daughter. You are the cause of her rebellion and her stubbornness.” The bad spirit had been conveyed from the mother to the daughter. Have you noticed that this is often the case?
Perhaps you have noticed that a bad spirit can be conveyed to the outskirts of your camp also. The last few rows in a church are often called “backsliders’ row.” If we could just build a church without any last rows in it for the mixed multitude, with only front seats, wouldn’t we have a marvelous, wonderful church? Lord, deal with that mixed multitude, those hangers-on on the outskirts of the camp.
“Outskirts” is a strange word. It means way out there on the edge of things. That is a dangerous place to be! If the camp is invaded, those on the outskirts will be the first to be attacked. If you withdraw and you are left behind, you are the most likely to lose out. That is where the murmuring takes place; that is where the complaining takes place—out on the fringe, the outskirts.
A bad spirit is also conveyed to the inner pharisee group. Do not think that it touches only the outskirts. Numbers 11:4 tells us, … and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?” It did not stop with the rabble or with the murmurers, the complainers. This spirit worked its way right into the heart of the camp until the real sons of Israel—the noble, elect race of Israel—had a bad spirit, too. They also cried about things and they complained and they murmured. If you are a pharisee you find murmuring and complaining very easy. A religious spirit is very close to a murmuring spirit. In contrast, the real grace of God produces joy and rejoicing in Christ Jesus.
A bad spirit can often be conveyed to the sheep from their shepherd. If that shepherd is a pessimistic, bitter person, the people will tend to be like him. Like priest, like people—we know that this principle is true. We do not like to hear these things, but we are a product of what we make each other. And it is true that our spirit is a highly contagious force in our life.
I am going to share with you a little truth about rebellion and murmuring. Listen to it very carefully. The inner force of withdrawal generates a spillover of rebellion in the Body. I did not realize how true this is until this Word came to me as I was waiting on the Lord. When people withdraw from their walk with the Lord, it is amazing how it is like a spill over a vast area from an oil tanker. There is a spillover of rebellion that goes through that whole Body of Christ.
Here is another truth about withdrawal: Withdrawal is never an innocent isolation; it is a deep festering of rebellion which will take over if the remedy of the Word of God is not constantly applied to it. You know when you have drawn away from the heart of things and you are out on the outskirts of the camp; you are guilty of the sin of withdrawal. Some things which we have in our heart are like a low-grade infection and we can eventually get rid of them, but withdrawal is never an innocent isolation. This is very important for you to know. If you do not take hold of this truth and see it, you will soon find out that the outskirts of the camp is where the seed of rebellion can finally hatch into full-scale rebellion, murmuring, and complaining. This becomes a very dangerous thing. Do not say in your heart, “I can stay home from church,” or, “I am going through something so I want to be alone.” That withdrawal is never an innocent isolation. It gives opportunity for rebellion to fester and the problems to grow greater.
There is something else about this murmuring and withdrawing spirit that is important for you to know. A withdrawn spirit seeks to hide from God and to hide from the brethren. That is one of the reasons why people withdraw. When you withdraw from God as Jonah did (Jonah 1:1–3), when you try to run the other way and not do the will of God, when you withdraw from your brethren, thinking, “Well, I do not want to cause any trouble so I will just go off by myself,” then you become a sitting duck, a target for Satan, because you have left the protection of the Body and the sheltering force that it gives to you. You have, in effect, turned your back on the dealings of the Lord and withdrawn from them. You have removed yourself from the operating table, thinking, “I’ve suffered enough.” But then you become a sitting duck. You think to camouflage yourself from God, but Satan declares an open season on you and he will shoot you down. This is the principle and you will always want to remember it: When you are hiding from God, you are best exposed to Satan. Nothing is worse than hiding from God and being exposed to Satan’s attack.
Murmuring and complaining is not something that was isolated to a few episodes during the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. The same murmuring and complaining is prophesied to be very prominent in the last days. The short epistle of Jude deals with the murmurers and complainers, the false prophets and all the vile things that come forth in the end time. In verse 16, it tells us, These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. They build up people’s admiration for themselves, so that they can gain an advantage, and they also build up other people with admiration. They admire them because they want to take advantage of them.
There is a strange thing about murmuring and complaining. It is generally based upon a root of selfishness which says, “I am not getting all the things that I want out of life, so I’ll murmur and I’ll complain.” Understand that these murmurers follow after their own lusts. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. Jude 16, NASB.
The self-life dominates murmurers; the old fleshly nature of Adam seems to take over in every instance, and this is a deadly thing. This took place over and over again in the lives of the children of Israel. In fact, one of the strongest Scriptures we could ever find is in I Corinthians chapter 10, where Paul wrote about the murmurers and complainers whom we read about in the book of Numbers.
In I Corinthians 10:5–7, we read, Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Do you wonder, “How is that being an idolater? They were just having a good time.” But notice that they caused the creature to be served rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Today there are many idolaters. They are worshiping their lusts, their bodies; they are worshiping everything else but God.
Paul continues, Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. I Corinthians 10:8–12.
We are not to grumble or murmur as they did, and were destroyed. We are not to try or tempt the Lord. If you consider all of the sins that the Israelites committed, it is significant that they were more often judged by the Lord for murmuring and complaining than for any other reason. Their murmuring was a reproach on God. It was the failure to believe that He would take care of them and provide for them. It was a refusal to adapt themselves to the new diet and the new environment of liberty and freedom that they found. It was a sin against God that they did not by faith rejoice in the land of promise which was just ahead of them. They were murmurers and complainers, and as Numbers 11 tells us, the fire fell upon them.
What is this fire? It is that which burns and destroys the murmuring heart and the complaining heart. There is a joy that we can draw from the Lord. There is a peace that passeth understanding (Philippians 4:7). There is an anointing the Lord can bring to us which is filled with great blessings from Himself. But there is also that with which we curse ourselves when in our heart we become murmurers and complainers, and we begin to voice that. When this happens, it is not long until there are deep, drastic dealings of God upon our lives.
It is good for us to remember this, because those of us who are moving from the Church Age into the next level of the Kingdom are aware that the path is very difficult. There are many times of assault. The Amalekites have declared war on us. Principalities and powers will do anything to prevent us from displacing them in the glorious realm that is ahead. What are we to do? Look at the promises of God! Don’t murmur and complain. Most of us knew from the very beginning that we would go through many difficulties. Remember Barnabas’ exhortation to the early Church at Antioch, that through much tribulation we must enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). This is what was set before the people in the wilderness wanderings and in that day of the New Testament Church, and it is also set before us today. God is setting this before us, that we know what we are facing, and He is giving us grace to endure it. Some may want to go back to Egypt, but I do not. There is not anything so difficult before us that I still would not prefer it to the old order of things that we left behind.
Ours is a joy and a blessing from the Lord, and blessings untold. The effectiveness of one Word with a higher level anointing is greater than a thousand sermons which never before could penetrate into the inner recesses of men’s spirits and create by a Living Word a whole new nature to come forth as sons of God. Without murmuring we will believe the Lord together.